Imaging devices such as laser or inkjet printers, photocopy machines, large format plotters, facsimile machines, and the like use consumable components that must be periodically replaced. For instance, electrophotographic imaging devices typically comprise removable cartridges that contain toner used to develop images (e.g., textual, graphical, or photographic images) on print media such as paper.
In environments in which such imaging devices are shared, for instance in an office environment, it is often desirable to exercise control over who may and may not access device consumable components. One reason for this is to prevent premature replacement of the consumable components and therefore ensure greater utilization of such products. Another reason for exercising this control is to prevent damage to the imaging device by someone who is attempting to replace a consumable component but who, due to his or her inexperience with this task, could possibly damage the imaging device. In some cases, control over consumable component access is desirable to prevent theft of imaging device consumable components.
In recognition of the value of extending access to imaging device consumable components to only select persons (e.g., authorized system administrators), various access limitation solutions have been proposed. In one such solution, the exterior door to the imaging device may simply be locked, for example with a lock and key, so that only persons with a key may access the consumable components. In a variation on this solution, systems have been proposed in which the exterior door to the imaging device is normally locked and can only be unlocked when an appropriate code (e.g., password) is entered, for example, using the device control panel.
Although the aforementioned solutions do limit access to imaging device consumable components, they further prevent persons from accessing the internal mechanisms of the imaging device for legitimate purposes. For example, if a paper jam occurs during a print job and an exterior door of the imaging device is locked, the user that sent the print job to the imaging device may not be able to clear the jam unless that user also has the means (e.g., key or code) necessary to open the exterior door in that the door may be the only access point to the paper path. Clearly, this can create problems in situations in which those persons with the means to access the interior of the imaging device are not in the vicinity or are otherwise unavailable.
From the above, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a system and method with which access to consumable components can be limited without generally denying access to the interior of an imaging device.
Systems and methods for limiting access to imaging device consumable components are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system and a method pertain to receiving authorization information from a user, determining whether the authorization information is valid, and preventing specific access to a consumable component if the authorization is not valid.